History MisaimedFandom / TabletopGames

*** This has been gone back and forth with each edition, 1st was pure parody, 2nd took the story seriously, 3rd took itself so seriously and was so grimdark it became a joke, 4th and 5th are LighterAndSofter with real heroes and villains, though still substantially darker than your average setting.

*** This has been gone back and forth with each edition, 1st was pure parody, 2nd took the story serious, 3rd took itself so serious and was so grimdark it became a joke, 4th and 5th are LighterAndSofter with real heroes and villains.

* Anytime anyone at all thinks that one of the factions in ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' is "the good guys" (hint: EvilVersusEvil is one of the foundations of the setting). This is almost always directed at the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Tau]], the [[HumansAreBastards Imperium of Man]] (mostly via the [[RedShirtArmy Imperial Guard]]) and/or the [[ManipulativeBastard Eldar]] (and occasionally [[BloodKnight Da Orks]]), probably because [[BlackAndGrayMorality their most common enemies routinely perform actions several orders of magnitude worse]] than anything the previous factions could possibly achieve.

*** It's probably safe to say the Imperium combines the worse aspects of most, if not all, of human history.

** Ditto that for the Sabbat faction in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade''. Originally little more than [[OurOrcsAreDifferent vampiric orcs]], the Sabbat became the setting's most popular faction among players, despite (or perhaps [[EvilIsCool because of]]) the [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel gory and sadistic supplements]] that described their behavior.

** Some claim that ''the whole setting'' was never meant to be taken as seriously as many fans do. In a fine example of this trope and/or PoesLaw, things intended as parody and BlackComedy were taken unironically at face value.

** Some claim that ''the whole setting'' was never meant to be taken as seriously as many fans do.

* Some claim that ''the whole setting'' was never meant to be taken as seriously as many fans do.

** It was a bit more justified originally with the Tau, since the original material on them kind of glossed over any of their negative aspects. CharacterDevelopment fixed that, though still they tend towards "CONVERT OR DIE!" when other groups only offer the latter.
*** Take note that said CharacterDevelopment only appeared after fans complained that they wern't GrimDark enough, and most of their negative aspects are told in quotes by imperial characters. The tau are either the best dudes in the universe if imperial propaganda isn't true, or just as grey as the empire if imperial propaganda is true.

** Ditto that for the {{Sabbat}} faction in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade''. Originally little more than [[OurOrcsAreDifferent vampiric orcs]], the Sabbat became the setting's most popular faction among players, despite (or perhaps [[EvilIsCool because of]]) the [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel gory and sadistic supplements]] that described their behavior.

** Ditto that for the {{Sabbat}} faction in ''[=~Vampire: The Masquerade~=]''. Originally little more than [[OurOrcsAreDifferent vampiric orcs]], the Sabbat became the setting's most popular faction among players, despite (or perhaps [[EvilIsCool because of]]) the [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel gory and sadistic supplements]] that described their behavior.

*** For added Irony one of the few positives about The Imperium is that ethnicity and gender are no longer used to discriminate against people and everyone is treated equally albeit equally poorly.

*** Take note that said CharacterDevelopment only appeared after fans complained that they wern't GrimDark enough, and most of their negative aspects are told in quotes by imperial characters. The tau are eather the best dudes in the universe if imperial propaganda isn't true, or just as grey as the empire if imperial propaganda is true.

* A good portion of the ''{{Rifts}}'' fandom symphasise with the Coalition States. The Coalition States, for the record, is a totalitarian, Orwellian, fascist police state that heavily restricts media, education, and free speech, seeks to control the entire Earth, and is [[FantasticRacism violently racist]] [[HumansAreBastards against non-humans]] - either they're wiped out on sight or forced to live in underprivileged ghettos until the day they die. [[ANaziByAnyOtherName If any of this is lost on you, they're aesthetically, philosophically, and socially based on Nazi Germany]], which should tip people off that they're not supposed to be the good guys. Problem is, not only [[EvilIsCool are they badass]], but a lot of nonhumans in the ''Rifts'' setting do pose an imminent danger to human civilisation, leading to many people ignoring - or worse, glorifying - the Coalition's atrocities. The creator was so fed up with this that he included an {{Anvilicious}} AuthorFilibuster in a later book detailing that the Coalition is fundamentally evil, but this hasn't stopped a thing.

** Ditto that for the {{Sabbat}} faction in ''[=~Vampire: The Masquerade~=]''. Originally little more than vampiric {{orcs}}, the Sabbat became the setting's most popular faction among players, despite (or perhaps [[EvilIsCool because of]]) the [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel gory and sadistic supplements]] that described their behavior.

*** They are implied to be trying to reunite the Eldar race but dont really care about changing the ideologies of their allies.
* The ''WorldOfDarkness'' supplement ''The Book of Nod'' was originally a source of stories and a prop for the setting. Imagine the author's surprise when Noddism became a cult.

** Ditto that for the {{Sabbat}} faction in ''[=~Vampire: The Masquerade~=]''. Originally little more than vampiric {{orcs}}, the Sabbat became the setting's most popular faction among players, despite (or perhaps [[EvilIsCool because of]]) the [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel gory and sadistic supplements]] that described their behavior.

** It was a bit more justified originally with the Tau, since the original material on them kind of glossed over any of their negative aspects. CharacterDevelopment fixed that.

** Ditto that for the {{Sabbat}} faction in ''[=~Vampire: The Masquerade~=]''. Originally little more than vampiric {{orcs}}, the Sabbat became the setting's most popular faction among players, despite (or perhaps [[EvilIsCool because of]] the [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel gory and sadistic supplments]] that described their behavior.

* Anytime anyone at all thinks that one of the factions in ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' is "the good guys" (hint: EvilVersusEvil is one of the foundations of the setting). This is almost always directed at the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Tau]], the [[HumansAreBastards Imperium of Man]] (mostly via the [[RedShirtArmy Imperial Guard]]) and/or the [[ManipulativeBastard Eldar]] (and occasionally [[BloodKnight Da Orks]]), probably because their most common enemies routinely perform actions several orders of magnitude worse than anything the previous factions could possibly achieve.

*** Note how the Imperium combines the worst parts of Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany and Maoist China with added piles of awful awful awful leadership.
**** Don't forget thw worst parts of Dark Ages Europe and the colonization of the America's!